Solder formulations, also known as solder creams or solder pastes, are homogeneous blends of a soft solder alloy typically in a powder form dispersed in a liquid medium conventionally containing a fluxing composition or flux, an organic solvent, and a thickening agent which will give the desired viscous or paste-like consistency to the solder formulation. Such solder formulations can be applied to the surfaces or locations requiring soldering in a number of various ways, such as by screen printing, or by means of a dispenser such as a syringe, or simply by dipping the site to be soldered into the solder paste formulation so that the viscous paste adheres to the site, such as an electronic component lead.
Recently, solder paste formulations have been used increasingly by the electronics industry, particularly in the automated manufacture of printed circuits in which leadless miniature electronic components are surface mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) to which a solder paste formulation has previously been applied, such as by screen printing. The PCB is then subjected to a sufficiently high temperature, for example by means of a heated conveyor belt, to cause the flux and solder alloy in the formulation to liquefy and contact the electronic component leads so that on subsequent cooling of the PCB, the components will remain soldered on the PCB.
For some uses in the electronics industry, it is desirable to use as the flux composition of the solder formulation a material which is non-corrosive and which will provide, after the heating and cooling steps, flux residues which are themselves non-corrosive and non-conducting. For this reason, rosin-based flux compositions are widely used in the commercially available solder paste formulations specifically made for use in the manufacture of surface mounted electronic components.
Alternatively, more reactive fluxing compositions may be used, which leave residues which are corrosive and/or conductive. Often a somewhat corrosive fluxing composition is desired so that the oxides which form on the metal surfaces to be soldered may be removed to permit the subsequently formed solder bond to be stronger both physically and electrically. However, it is necessary to remove these residues formed by means of either aqueous or organic solvent systems to ensure that the resulting soldered circuit is non-corrosive.
The use of solder paste formulations containing such rosin-based or more reactive fluxes has a number of disadvantages. First, because the non-corrosive residues (such as rosins) tend to be sticky, they prevent repetitive automatic testing of the circuit. Rosin-based fluxes tend to leave copious amounts of residue on the circuit. Additionally, such residues are unsightly and therefore, as with the corrosive flux residues which are also unattractive, will need to be removed. The removal step involves extra production equipment, time and material.
Secondly, flux residues tend to be hygroscopic and may thereby cause spattering. Thirdly, some fluxes permit solder particles in the paste to move away from the solder site and give rise to the formation of numbers of discrete small balls of soft solder around the soldered joints, which can create electrical short circuits.
Because of these and other disadvantages, it is desirable and often essential to meet specifications, to remove the flux residues and any solder balls as much as possible. Often, however, their removal is difficult or impossible, particularly from areas of the PCB underneath the electronic components.
As noted, a common procedure is to use an aqueous or organic solvent in the removal of flux residues. Though water is preferred because it will not leave an objectionable residue itself, water typically is an ineffective agent, since many of the residues, such as the rosin residues, are only slightly soluble in water. Organic solvents are more effective, but less desirable because they are more expensive and particularly because they are more troublesome to dispose of. A particular class of organic solvents that had attained widespread use was the halocarbons, such as the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), because they would volatilize after cleaning. However, these materials are particularly inert and their eventual decomposition is involved in the undesirable depletion of atmospheric ozone.
Thus, for these and other reasons the prior solder fluxing compositions are less preferred, and it would therefore be advantageous to discover a new fluxing composition that would avoid one or more of these disadvantages.